A camera’s mystique,
since its invention, has been to capture time, to preserve a moment… forever.
Maestro director Jan Troell’s gift to us is to encompass this
simple fact in such an absorbing, enriching story.

Maja Larsson (Callin Öhrvall), oldest daughter of Maria (Maria Heiskanen)
and Sigfrid (Mikael Persbrandt), recounts her family’s history. In the early
1900s, her working-class Swedish parents are challenged by external factors —
poverty, social change, war — in providing for their ever-increasing family.
Her father is boisterous, good natured; her mother caring, stable.

“You see what you want
to see,” Maja remembers her mother saying. Maria had
won a camera in a lottery, which she finds one day in the back of an armoire.
She takes the camera to local photographer Sebastian Pedersen (Jesper Christensen) to sell; instead Pedersen convinces her
she should use the camera once at least and subsequently teaches Maria the
intricacies of photography. The resulting photographs are what Pedersen senses;
Maria has a unique way of seeing the world around her. He encourages her, and
their special relationship becomes a centering point for Maria; kindly Pedersen
becomes “Piff Paff Puff” to
her and the children.

Sigfrid meanwhile, a womanizing drunk, behaves
recklessly, threatening his family’s welfare. Ever stalwart, after the children
are in bed Maria turns the kitchen into her darkroom, causing Sigfrid to feel even more threatened by Maria’s photography
and the independence it brings her. Sigfrid’s rage,
impotent against Maria's newfound strength and tenacity, reaches a crescendo that
has devastating results; Maria’s ultimate choice, while perhaps puzzling, also
epitomizes life.

Director Jan Troell, with Niklas Rådström’s superb screenplay, breathes life into each
character, all brilliantly portrayed. Heiskanen’s
face richly reflects infinite variations of emotions, Persbrandt fluctuates effortlessly from scoundrel to
charming, Öhrvall aptly blends innocence with
level-headedness; Christensen’s subtlety speaks volumes. Mischa
Gavrjusjov and Jan Troell’s
impeccable camerawork frames each golden shot as if it were a photograph;
original music from Matti Bye enhances the shifting moods
throughout. Based on a factual account, this fascinating story is told so well,
it is like a first-rate novel you do not want to end. An exquisite masterpiece,
this film will be: everlasting.

Actress Maria Heiskanen’s
Insider Perspective on the Making Of Everlasting Moments

by Marinell Haegelin

Filmfest Hamburg 2008: I walked
out of the theater, spellbound having just watched Everlasting Moments. As I talked to a
colleague and prepared to go into the next screening, it was pure chance that I
realized Maria Heiskanen sat a foot away! “Maria”? (me thinking Larsson) I asked, to which Maria Heiskanen looked up and said, “Yes”?

We talked:
Maria‘s involvement in the making of Everlasting
Moments is a great story in itself. To truly appreciate the film, Maria
told me the history on which it is based.

Documentary
filmmaker and writer Agneta Ulfsäter-Troell,
wife of director Jan Troell,
researched her family history for a book. Agneta
spent more than six years interviewing Maja (born in
1901), the oldest daughter of Maria Larsson, who was Agneta’s
father's Aunt Mary. After some years and countless interviews, Maja happened to mention her mother had been a
photographer: Agneta then compiled hundreds of
photographs.

It was
about six years ago that Maria (Heiskanen) received a
phone call from Agneta, saying they intended to make
a movie about Maria Larsson and asked, “Will you send me your photo so when I
write, I can look at you?” Naturally flattered since it is not often that
actors have something written with them in mind, Maria sent her a photo;
although she hoped to get the part, she did not dwell on it.

Approximately
four years later, Maria was cast as Maria Larsson, the lead role in the film Everlasting Moments. For director Jan Troell casting is crucial; he relies on his heart and
intuition. He pulls together the best production team in the industry as well
and puts his trust in it, which motivates everyone to give their utmost. “I had
the opportunity to work with the best in the industry and with a superbly
written manuscript” Maria told me.

To help her
get into character, Maria received a copious amount of wonderful material from Agneta, including a great number of Larsson’s photographs.
She studied the information, absorbed all knowledge relative to her character
and people in the story, then set it aside. Maria
trusts her intuition to create the character: “You could say I’m a method actor…
I kept her (Maria Larsson) inside the whole time we were shooting, not easy for
those closest to me. But, (a hint of wonder in her voice), it was very easy to
say goodbye! I talked to Jan (Troell) while he was
editing and I told him, O.K. you are there with Maria Larsson and all the other
characters but I’m not ‘there’ anymore.”

Next,
rehearsals began and the entire cast was brought together. Maria, not a mother,
was a little worried about bonding with the many (18 to 19) child actors,
primarily the older ones because convincing personal interaction was essential,
yet when she talked to Troell about this, he said not
to worry. Rehearsals included children workshops where they practice
improvisation, which put everyone at ease and brought them closer together.

“His (Jan Troell) way of working is so special.” Maria told me. “He
really trusts his actors and that creates a special feeling, and as an actor
you trust yourself and take risks.” To work with Troell
is very distinctive: “a never-ending relationship between him behind the
camera, and me acting… I’m aware his camera is following me but, I don’t know
whether it is focused on my face or, my fingers drumming on the table.”

“With the
lead role it is so fantastic because you have the time and space to elaborate
on the character… and more demanding, because I know I can’t give up. I have a
lot of doubts as an actor with my character, but I have learned from Jan that
doubt belongs to the creative process — doubt can be positive if used in a
constructive way, not negatively.”

Production
began in Sweden February 2007. Over a five-month
period the cast rehearsed, approximately 60 days were spent filming, and they
shot one-week in Hamburg inside photographer Pedersen’s
atelier (the exterior was shot in Sweden). Maria surrounded herself with
Larsson’s photographs — hung them on walls, arranged them on furniture surfaces
— where they stayed during the production.

Jan Troell is Maria’s mentor: it is 1989, and Maria has just graduated from a
theater high school in Helsinki. By sheer coincidence one
morning she opens the newspaper and spots an audition announcement for two
actors. Curiously, there is a long list of attributes for the male role, but the
female role lists only age and height; Maria correctly that deduces they don’t
yet know how the woman should be. She then realizes the audition is in two
hours, and rushes so that she is the first one there! After auditioning
hundreds of girls, Jan Troell chose 19-year-old Maria
Heiskanen.

Il Capitano was made in 1990 and released
in 1991; they worked together again in 1999, and now, this masterpiece. Everlasting Moments is Sweden’s film submission for the Foreign
Language Oscar®. (Marinell Haegelin)

Second Opinion

Director Jan Troell is a true master with the camera. Each scene sends us back in time and each moment is wonderfully shot and significant. The title couldn’t be more appropriate as this film takes us back to Sweden in the 1920’s and we can actually visualize what Maria Larsson (Maria Heiskanen), one of Sweden’s first photographers, saw through the camera. The view of daily life with color tones in brown gives us a naturalistic view of the hard life in that time period. (Shelly Schoeneshoefer)